Effect of temperature on raw whole milk density and its potential impact on milk payment in the dairy industry

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of temperature on whole milk density measured at four different temperatures: 5, 10, 15, and 20 °C. A total of ninety-three individual milk samples were collected from morning milking of thirty-two Holstein Friesian dairy cows, of national average genetic merit, once every two weeks over a period of 4 weeks and were assessed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy for milk composition analysis. Density of the milk was evaluated using two different analytical methods: a portable density meter DMA35 and a standard desktop model DMA4500M (Anton Paar GmbH, UK). Milk density was analysed with a linear mixed model with the fixed effects of sampling period, temperature and analysis method; triple interaction of sampling period x analysis method x temperature; and the random effect of cow to account for repeated measures. The effect of temperature on milk density (ρ) was also evaluated including temperature (t) as covariate with linear and quadratic effects within each analytic method. The regression equation describing the curvature and density–temperature relationship for the DMA35 instrument was ρ = 1.0338−0.00017T−0.0000122T² (R² = 0.64), while it was ρ = 1.0334 + 0.000057T−0.00001T² (R² = 0.61) for DMA4500 instrument. The mean density determined with DMA4500 at 5 °C was 1.0334 g cm⁻³, with corresponding figures of 1.0330, 1.0320 and 1.0305 g cm⁻³ at 10, 15 and 20 °C, respectively. The milk density values obtained in this study at specific temperatures will help to address any bias in weight–volume calculations and thus may also improve the financial and operational control for the dairy processors in Ireland and internationally.     

Glycosylation in Indolent,Significant and Aggressive Prostate Cancer by Automated High-Throughput N-Glycan Profiling

The diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer (PCa) is a major health-care concern worldwide. This cancer can manifest itself in many distinct forms and the transition from clinically indolent PCa to the more invasive aggressive form remains poorly understood. It is now universally accepted that glycan expression patterns change with the cellular modifications that accompany the onset of tumorigenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate if differential glycosylation patterns could distinguish between indolent, significant, and aggressive PCa. Whole serum N-glycan profiling was carried out on 117 prostate cancer patients’ serum using our automated, high-throughput analysis platform for glycan-profiling which utilizes ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) to obtain high resolution separation of N-linked glycans released from the serum glycoproteins. We observed increases in hybrid, oligomannose, and biantennary digalactosylated monosialylated glycans (M5A1G1S1, M8, and A2G2S1), bisecting glycans (A2B, A2(6)BG1) and monoantennary glycans (A1), and decreases in triantennary trigalactosylated trisialylated glycans with and without core fucose (A3G3S3 and FA3G3S3) with PCa progression from indolent through significant and aggressive disease. These changes give us an insight into the disease pathogenesis and identify potential biomarkers for monitoring the PCa progression, however these need further confirmation studies.     

Diffuse color patterning using blended electrochromic polymers for proof‐of‐concept adaptive camouflage plaques

A study using three different pairs of electrochromic polymers (ECPs) synthesized onto plaques by means of a modified vapor phase polymerization (VPP) technique is presented. Restriction of the respective polymerization times, allowed both faster and slower polymerizing monomers to be controlled, and produced blended plaques with visually diffuse interfaces. The ECPs within the blended plaques retain their individual electrochromic behavior and when encapsulated into an electrochromic device, show outstanding optical switching performance with little degradation evident over 10,000 cycles, coupled with a switching time of the order of 1 second. Blends also allow multiple diffuse color changes within an electrochromic device, due to the difference in oxidation potentials of the individual ECPs, making them candidates for adaptive camouflage use. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42158.     

Carcinoembryonic antigen in diagnosis and monitoring of colorectal cancer]

Female SJL mice are more susceptible than male mice to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) induced by myelin basic protein (MBP)-specific T lymphocytes. In the present study, we examined mechanisms involved in this gender-related difference in disease susceptibility. MBP-specific T lymphocytes derived from spleens of males during the effector phase of adoptive EAE produced significantly higher levels of IL-10, an anti-inflammatory cytokine in EAE. A protective effect of testosterone was then shown. Females implanted with dihydrotestosterone pellets demonstrated a significantly less severe course of EAE as compared with females implanted with placebo pellets. Finally, MBP-specific T lymphocytes derived from dihydrotestosterone-implanted females produced significantly higher levels of IL-10 than those from placebo. Together these data indicate that testosterone exerts a protective effect in EAE that is mediated at least in part by enhanced production of IL-10 by autoantigen-specific T lymphocytes.     

Heat transport in dilute mixtures of3He in superfluid4He

We report new measurements of the effective thermal conductivity K_eff and relaxation time τ in dilute mixtures of³He in superfluid⁴He, with molar concentrationsX≤10⁻³. The temperature range extended fromT≈1.4 K toT _λ. Both K_cff and τ are found to agree with theoretical predictions, in contrast to previous experiments where significant differences were observed. A new thermal conductivity cell design was used which almost completely eliminates extraneous volumes and surfaces, and the earlier results are explained in relation to these design changes.     

The pharmacokinetics and protein-binding of fusidic acid in patients with severe renal failure requiring either haemodialysis or continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis

Antibiotic treatment options for Burkholderia cepacia infection are limited because of high intrinsic resistance. The problem is complicated by development of cross-resistance between antibiotics of different classes. We isolated antibiotic-resistant mutants by stepwise exposure to chloramphenicol (Chlor) and to trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole (T/S) for four B. cepacia strains: ATCC13945, Per (clinical isolate), Cas and D4 (environmental isolates). Chlor(r) mutants did not produce chloramphenicol acetyl-transferase. Cross-resistance, defined as greater than four-fold increase in MIC by microtitre dilution method, was consistently seen in both types of mutants. For chloramphenicol-resistant (Chlor[r]) and trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole-resistant (Tr/Sr) mutants of B. cepacia ATCC13945 and Cas, no MIC change was seen for piperacillin, ceftazidime, rifampicin, gentamicin, tobramycin, polymyxin B or azithromycin. B. cepacia-Per and -D4 mutants showed cross-resistance to ceftazidime and to piperacillin. Comparison of outer membrane protein (OMP) profiles of B. cepacia and their mutants by SDS-PAGE revealed Tr/Sr) mutants to be deficient in a major OMP (molecular weight 39-47 kDa). Tr/Sr mutants also expressed additional OMPs not found in wild type strains at 75-77 kDa for B. cepacia-ATCC13945 and -Cas, and 20-21 kDa in B. cepacia-D4 and -Per. No OMP changes occurred in Chlor(r) mutants. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) profiles of each type of mutant showed new high and low molecular weight LPS bands. Cross-resistance seems to be mediated by alterations in porin and LPS for Tr/Sr mutants, but only by LPS in Chlor(r) mutants.     

Development of Acoustic Instruments for Diagnosis and Management of Medical Conditions

Computerized analysis of lung sounds can play a very important role in management of patients with a variety of medical conditions, particularly those who are seriously ill. While single-channel devices can play an important role in making auscultation more objective, multi-channel instruments greatly improve the efficiency of data collection. This has a particular advantage in the rapid assessments of patients who are in acute distress from cardiopulmonary conditions. As noted, it has the distinct advantage of being noninvasive. This is a particular advantage in the case of children and pregnant women. A number of other groups are currently working with multichannel devices, but have not yet reported their findings. The future will likely see improved acoustic instruments useful in diagnosis and management of medical conditions     

Epidemiology of Trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Mexico.

Prevalence rates of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were estimated from a probability sample of 2,509 adults from 4 cities in Mexico. PTSD was assessed according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) criteria using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI; WHO, 1997). Lifetime prevalence of exposure and PTSD were 76% and 11.2%, respectively. Risk for PTSD was highest in Oaxaca (the poorest city), persons of lower socioeconomic status, and women. Conditional risk for PTSD was highest following sexual violence, but nonsexual violence and traumatic bereavement had greater overall impact because of their frequency. Of lifetime cases, 62% became chronic; only 42% received medical or professional care. The research demonstrates the importance of expanding the epidemiologic research base on trauma to include developing countries around the world. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)